GR Dailies: How I Met Your Mother – Daisy

Finally, after weeks of waiting to find out where Lily went after she stormed out on her and Marshall’s fight, we… well, find out where she went after she stormed out on her and Marshall’s fight, I guess.

At the same time, Robin’s finally having her pre-wedding panic attack for the same reason a lot of women do: because she’s convinced she’s marrying her dad. So let’s jump into that, shall we?

It’s definitely a fair and reasonable assumption to say that a lot of women worry about marrying guys exactly like their dads. I mean, women generally tend to be a lot like their mothers, so it stands to reason that they’d have similar taste in men, whether that’s as simple as liking tall, dark-haired guys or as complicated as liking guys who’ve slept with a long line of women and keep their jobs a secret.

And it’s definitely a scary problem for anyone who’s ever worried they’re marrying their parents, especially if their parents’ marriage didn’t last. It makes them wonder if they’re doomed to make the same mistakes in the best case, and feels oddly incest-y in the worst case (I’m assuming). So it’s a relief to Robin, however offhanded and ill-founded the remark may be (I mean, those are some really specific red flags that Robin Sr. and Barney have in common), when Robin’s mom is hugged by Barney and then promptly says the two men are nothing alike.

But Robin’s mom gives her a really sweet pep talk after that, which deals with finding a person you love who supports you and can be there for you through the good times and the bad, or some such thing (I wasn’t totally listening; I was distracted by what sounded like a headboard slamming against the wall in the room behind them, which I will explain in a minute). So that’s a nice end to a storyline that, while teased for several episodes and not at all living up to the suspense, managed to be realistic. I mean, thank goodness we didn’t get another Hollywood-typical “is he the right guy for me” crisis.

Now we’re back to Lily. The gang figures out that it was the Captain’s car that picked her up after the big fight, because he has a house in the Farhampton area. Marshall suspects an affair (not really, but apparently men get just as irrational as ladies do), so they drive over there to punch the Captain right in his face. And even after that–and after Ted stole his wife–he’s still perfectly willing to help them out. What a classy guy.

They learn that, although Lily came over the night before, she and the Captain aren’t involved because he’s now engaged to Becky (she of “Boats! Boats! Boats!” fame). Ted then develops a theory about what really happened and goes all Mosby Boys on everyone, which is frankly one of the most annoying gags the show’s ever come up with, but whatever.

I did enjoy this, though. It felt like an old-timey murder mystery. Or Clue.

He deduces that Lily started smoking again while Marshall was away, came to the Captain’s house, smoked up their powder room, and hid her cigarette butt in the potted daisy on the windowsill. And when he pokes through the soil, he finds… a positive pregnancy test.

And we see just how scared Lily has been this whole time, especially in that big fight when Marshall accuses her of seeing him, Marvin, and any future children they might have as a consolation prize for the future she might have had. So it’s great to see Marshall finally putting his priorities in order and realizing what’s most important to him: his family. For the first time all season, everything is right in the world of Lily and Marshall, so of course they boink on Barney and Robin’s bed (hence the headboard-banging), because that’s just how they do.

A year later, we see them in Italy with their family (including Lily’s dad and Marshall’s mom, because family with benefits, apparently). As a reference to the greatest secret Lily ever kept, to the conflict that nearly drove Lily and Marshall apart, and to the happiness that brought them back together, they’ve named their little girl Daisy.

Overall, this was a pretty touching episode that managed to hit a lot of the right notes: the Captain, Becky, Ted’s theory about Lily smoking, the baby, Robin and her mom… Of course, it managed to hit a lot of sour notes too, like Ted Sherlocking all over the place and everyone’s horrifically stilted Italian at the end. But I can forgive those, for the most part, when it means seeing Lily and Marshall happy again for the first time all season (which for them is only a few days, but again, whatever).

Final Grade: A-

Final Thoughts:

I loved the little musical number with the Captain and his housekeeping staff. Such a Captain-y thing to do.

Why is Robin’s mom British? Do the producers of this show even know what a Canadian accent sounds like? I mean, most of us like the queen and all, ’cause she seems like a super lady, but we’re not actually British.

Ted finally clues in that a lot has happened over the last day and a half. Sheesh, no kidding, dumb-dumb.

Annnnd Ranjeet doesn’t actually have a driver’s license. That throws the last nine seasons into sharp perspective.

Although it’s kind of funny and sweet that Linus has been serving up non-alcoholic drinks all weekend (explains why it wasn’t that expensive), Drunk Lily now makes absolutely no sense.

I just have to emphasize how awful those Italian accents were. That’s probably the most uncomfortable I’ve ever been with a HIMYM episode, and that’s including the events of “Mary the Paralegal.” That is all.